Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance extend partnership

• CEOs say partnership will continue expanding, and all projects are on track
• Original project portfolio has quadrupled to 12 projects across three continents
• New Renault Twingo, smart fortwo and smart forfour launch this fall and represent the first vehicles fully co-developed from scratch
• Mitsubishi Fuso and Nissan sign contract for supply of Fuso Canter Van for export markets

The Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler AG enjoy a long-term and stable future, and all of their shared projects remain on track, the companies’ CEOs told journalists today in their annual media update at the Paris Motor Show.

Renault-Nissan and Daimler launched their partnership in 2010. The scope of the original collaboration in 2010 was limited to three projects primarily in Europe. The combined portfolio shared between Renault-Nissan and Daimler has since quadrupled to 12 projects in Europe, Asia and North America.

“The global scale of our projects ensures that this collaboration will continue to grow, and we expect to remain partners for the long run,” said Renault-Nissan CEO and Chairman Carlos Ghosn. “This partnership has accelerated the time-to-market for significant vehicle launches and has been an obvious strategic advantage for Renault and Nissan. We remain confident about our relationship for the foreseeable future.”

“Since its start in 2010, this cooperation has delivered what it has promised, and even more. And that’s how we will continue to work together in the future – with joint projects that establish a win-win situation for all partners involved and create value for our customers worldwide. This is definitely a track record to be continued,” said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

The CEOs’ comments come as the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler get ready to launch their first vehicles co-developed from scratch this autumn: the new Renault Twingo and the new smart fortwo and smart forfour. The Renault Twingo went on sale in Europe in September, while the smart fortwo and smart forfour will go on sale in November. The city cars are built on a jointly developed rear-wheel-drive architecture which involved teams from both sides working closely together these last four years.

The three cars, which are all on display at the Paris Motor Show, are independent products with an unmistakable unique brand identity. The smart fortwo is being built at smart’s Hambach plant in France, while the Twingo and the smart forfour are being produced at Renault’s plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia.

Project Portfolio Keeps Expanding

In June 2014, as a major recent milestone, Nissan and Daimler announced plans to jointly develop premium compact vehicles and to jointly manufacture them in Mexico.

Construction of a jointly-owned facility in Aguascalientes, in the immediate vicinity of an already existing Nissan plant, will begin in early 2015. Production will begin in 2017 with Infiniti models. The production of Mercedes-Benz vehicles will follow in 2018. When fully ramped up, the Mexico facility will have production capacity of 300,000 units per year.

The premium compact vehicles will also be produced at other Daimler and Nissan plants around the world, including Europe and China.

Meanwhile, the two companies continue to supply each other with powertrains. In September, Renault began supplying 1.6-liter diesel engines for both the new Mercedes C-Class and the Mercedes Vito van. Renault is also supplying a 1-liter, 3-cylinder naturally aspirated gasoline engine and a 900cc turbocharged, 3-cylinder gasoline unit for the smart forfour and smart fortwo.

In June, joint production of a 2-liter, turbocharged 4-cylinder gasoline engine began at a newly established Nissan and Daimler powertrain facility in Decherd, Tennessee, USA. The engines produced by the Infiniti Decherd Powertrain Plant will initially be used in European versions of the Infiniti Q50 sports sedan and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The new facility will have installed capacity of 250,000 units per year, once fully ramped-up.

In the van segment, Daimler’s Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., have just signed a contract for the supply of finished commercial vans for export. Under the contract, Nissan will supply its “NV350 Urvan” (GVW: 3.5 tons) commercial van to Mitsubishi Fuso which will sell it as ‘Canter Van’ in the Middle East starting in 2014.

The final agreement comes a year after the two companies signed a basic agreement on September 11, 2013.